Various wall bracing systems are known for securing and straightening cracked or bowed basement walls in residential applications. Prior art systems generally include those which utilize soil anchored mechanisms which pull the shifted wall from the exterior of the structure and conventional systems which are used to push the shifted wall from the interior surface. Exterior systems are generally anchored separately from the structure containing the damaged wall, require excavation and tend to be unreliable under varied soil conditions. Interior systems address this need by providing an applied straightening force that is anchored from the structure containing the damaged wall and reduces the need for exterior excavation. As interior systems develop, further improvements may be realized in practice.
As is known in the art, prior art systems utilized in interior applications tend to secure a brace against a fractured or shifting wall, anchoring the bottom portion of a brace to the floor, anchoring the top portion of the brace to an overhead floor joist and utilizing a jack mechanism to adjustably apply force to the brace. Although such systems may prevent further shifting or perhaps straighten the damage to the wall, most of them are designed with a jack mechanism providing only a limited range of adjustment, lack the structural means necessary to apply increased force to straighten a bowed wall in commercial applications and are configurable for limited interior construction configurations. Other mechanisms are designed only for vertical floor joint applications.
Generally accepted in the art is a means to attach holding brackets to one side of overhead floor joists that are oriented perpendicular to the wall surface. Such systems further comprise a jack mechanism to hold the top of the brace vertical along side the floor joist and adjustably apply pressure to the brace which is transferred to the surface of the wall. The bottom portion of the brace in such designs are generally secured to the floor. These designs have a limited range of applied force due to the holding brackets being secured to one side of a single overhead floor joist such that increased force causes floor joists to twist. Such designs further require longer braces which will have a limited range of motion of the jack mechanism and are more likely to deflect than shorter braces. As is known in the art, common configurations of jack mechanisms include a screw jack, lever jack, etc. Additionally, increased force requires further improvements to prevent shifting of the brace from a vertical position and a different approach in order to set the brace at a greater angle of incidence from the wall surface.
Other prior art designs include a bracing configuration with a jack mechanism that fits floor joists running parallel to the surface of the wall. In such designs, a threaded rod pierces the mounting floor joist closest to the holding bracket and further utilizes floor joist supports to distribute the pressure. In such designs, a threaded nut is placed against the floor joist holding bracket and is not able to hold the pushing rod straight which causes some difficulty in lining up the alignment brace properly while holding it straight. This configuration is designed to secure the wall fracture and not intended for subsequent adjustment nor designed to force the shifted wall back into a vertical position. This approach fails to address other overhead construction configurations such as cases where duct work resides between the floor joists, thereby preventing the ability to utilize the space between the floor joists. Therefore, such designs lack the range of motion needed for subsequent adjustments to the brace position, lack the applied force necessary to return a shifted wall back into position and fail to address further overhead bracing configuration needs.
There is therefore an unmet need to increase perpendicularly applied force for interior applications of straightening and supporting damaged walls in a wide range of motion, under overhead floors of different configurations.